Nail belt

ABSTRACT

A nail belt is provided with a main body; a plurality of holes on the main body; and a plurality of nail sockets each depending downward from the hole, each nail socket including a bottom rim, a plurality of longitudinal slits formed on a circumferential surface of the nail socket, and a plurality of projections extending from the rim toward inside of the nail socket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to nail belt and more particularly to a nail belt capable of loading nails of different sizes and stably holding them before driving out by a nail gun.

2. Description of Related Art

Nail guns are frequently used by construction workers. For convenient use of nail guns, nail belts each contain a series of nails have been developed and are commercially available. One type of nail belt can accommodate nails of one size. This, however, has limited applications.

Recently, another type of nail belt capable of accommodating nails of a plurality of sizes is devised. However, it is often that nails driven out of the nail belt cannot be fastened on an object.

A conventional nail belt for a nail gun is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The nail belt comprises a plurality of connected, spaced nail sockets each capable of being loaded with a nail 3. However, the nails 3 may be not held properly due to generous clearances between the nail 3 and an inner surface of the nail socket. This can cause the nails 3 driven out of the nail sockets to be unstably secured to an object. To the worse, it can disrupt the nailing operation of a nail gun due to jam. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a nail belt comprising a main body; a plurality of holes on the main body; and a plurality of nail sockets each depending downward from the hole, each nail socket including a bottom rim, a plurality of longitudinal slits formed on a circumferential surface of the nail socket, and a plurality of projections extending from the rim toward inside of the nail socket.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional nail belt for a nail gun;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the conventional nail belt with nails being loaded in the nail sockets;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of nail belt according to the invention;

FIG. 4A is a bottom view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5A is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the nail belt shown in FIG. 3 showing a nail being loaded in a nail socket;

FIG. 5B is a view similar to FIG. 5A showing the nail being stably loaded and ready to drive out of the nail belt by a nail gun;

FIG. 6 a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of nail belt according to the invention;

FIG. 7A is a fragmentary view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 7B is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 7A showing a nail having been driven out of the nail belt after breaking the rim and the slit;

FIG. 7C is a perspective view of FIG. 7A but viewed from above the nail belt;

FIG. 7D is a top plan view of a portion of the nail belt shown in FIG. 7C; and

FIG. 7E is a sectional view taken along line B-BA of FIG. 7D with a nail shown in phantom being stably loaded and ready to drive out of the nail belt by a nail gun.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5B, a nail belt in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention comprises the following components as discussed in detail below.

An elongated main body 2 is formed integrally. A plurality of equally spaced holes 21 are provided on the main body 2. A plurality of nail sockets 22 each are depending downward from the hole 21. The nail socket 22 is substantially cylindrical but slightly tapered toward bottom. A rim 24 is formed on a bottom of the nail socket 22. A plurality of equally spaced, longitudinal slits 23 are formed on a circumferential surface of the nail socket 22 from top of the nail socket 22 to the rim 24. Two opposite curved projections 25 are extended from the bottom of the rim 24 toward inside of the nail socket 22. Preferably, the main body 2 of the nail belt is formed of flexible plastic such as PE (polyethylene).

The provision of the slits 23 enables the nail socket 22 to expand flexibly when a nail 3 is loaded in the nail socket 22. Note that the head of the nail 3 is held on the opening of the hole 21. Thus, the nail belt can accommodate nails of different sizes. Further, the projections 25 can exert a clamping force on a bare portion of the nail 3 (see FIG. 5B). Thus, the loaded nail 3 can be held stably and it ensures a reliable fastening of the nail 3 in an object in a subsequent operation by a nail gun.

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 7E, an integral nail belt in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The characteristics of the second preferred embodiment are substantially the same as that of the first preferred embodiment except the following:

Two ends of the main body 2 of the nail belt are provided with a mating member (e.g., a rectangular flat member having two downward depending cylinders as shown) 26 and a corresponding mating member (e.g., a rectangular flat member having two holes as shown) 27 respectively. The provision of the mating member 26 and the corresponding mating member 27 enables a nail belt to connect to another nail belt to form a longer nail belt is such need arises.

The four slits 23 are grouped into two sets each including two opposite slits 23 in which one slit 23 of one set has a length greater than that of the other silt 23 of one set (see FIG. 7A). Hence, the slits 23 having a bottom in the rim 24 (i.e., the longer slits 23) may be broken after a nail 3 being driven out of the nail socket 22. This has the benefit of facilitating a nailing operation.

An enhanced link 28 is provided to interconnect two adjacent nail sockets 22 so that a structural strength of the nail belt can be increased. An annular groove 29 is formed on the mouth or top opening of the nail socket 22 so that the head of a nail 3 may be stably seated therein.

While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. A nail belt comprising: a main body; a plurality of holes on the main body; and a plurality of nail sockets each depending downward from the hole, each nail socket including a bottom rim, a plurality of longitudinal slits formed on a circumferential surface of the nail socket, and a plurality of projections extending from the rim toward inside of the nail socket.
 2. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein the main body is formed integrally.
 3. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein the main body is formed of PE (polyethylene).
 4. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein further comprising a plurality of closed grooves each formed on top of the nail socket.
 5. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein the nail sockets are substantially cylindrical.
 6. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein the projections comprise two opposite projections.
 7. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein the projections are curved.
 8. The nail belt of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of enhanced links formed on the main body, each of the enhanced links interconnecting two adjacent nail sockets.
 9. The nail belt of claim 1, wherein the slits are equally spaced apart.
 10. The nail belt of claim 9, wherein the slits are of different lengths.
 11. A nail belt comprising: a main body; a plurality of holes on the main body; a mating member at one end of the main body; a corresponding mating member at the other end of the main body; and a plurality of nail sockets each depending downward from the hole, each nail socket including a bottom rim, a plurality of longitudinal slits formed on a circumferential surface of the nail socket, and a plurality of projections extending from the rim toward inside of the nail socket.
 12. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein the main body is formed integrally.
 13. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein the main body is formed of PE (polyethylene).
 14. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein further comprising a plurality of closed grooves each formed on top of the nail socket.
 15. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein the nail sockets are substantially cylindrical.
 16. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein the projections comprise two opposite projections.
 17. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein the projections are curved.
 18. The nail belt of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of enhanced links formed on the main body, each of the enhanced links interconnecting two adjacent nail sockets.
 19. The nail belt of claim 11, wherein the slits are equally spaced apart.
 20. The nail belt of claim 19, wherein the slits are of different lengths. 